Second Attempt
by roseannacharlotte
Summary: Arthur dies and finds himself back in Camelot with his father still alive and the 20 year festival of the purge about to begin. This was not what he expected.
1. Begin Again

"Goddess!" Merlin cried out, desperation and anger mingling in his tone, as he stood up from where he had been crouched beside the now dead king.

"You called Emrys?" three voices spoke in unison.

"Arthur is dead!"There is only anger in Merlin's voice now. "Albion had a chance but now its king is dead." Power radiated off the warlock. A howl of pure grief escaped him and a wave of magic hit the Triple Goddess. She gasped as she realised what Magic was unintentionally doing. She tried desperately to stop him but Emrys was too strong now.

Arthur's eyes snapped open in some confusion. He hadn't expected Avalon to look like his bedchamber in Camelot. A knock at the door prevented Camelot's king from thinking too much about it.

"Come in," he called then stared in shock at the person who came in. It took Arthur a moment to work out who it was. The boy had been manservant to Arthur before Merlin. He had been one of the victim's of the plague that had happened about a month after Merlin arrived.

"Good morning Sire. Your father wishes you to have breakfast with him this morning."

Arthur frowned. His father was dead. But then again, so was Arthur. Perhaps Death was just like life but with all the people who were Dead there. Maybe he'd finally get to meet his mother.

This train of thought occupied Arthur whilst he dressed and walked to the dining chamber; his former manservant at his heels. When he arrived the guards opened the door to reveal Uther and Morgana sat conversing together. Now Arthur was completely discombobulated. What on Earth was Morgana doing there?

Uther looked up.

"Ah, Arthur, come and sit down. I was just telling Morgana that I intend to invite Lady Helen of Mora to Camelot to sing at the festival to celebrate 20 years of the purge."

Arthur felt as though he'd missed a step going down the stairs. He remembered the 20 year festival. A sorceress whose son had just been executed had impersonated Lady Helen to try and kill Arthur. Merlin had saved Arthur's life and been rewarded by being made Arthur's manservant. Neither man had been happy about it at the time, but they had eventually become good friends.

Suddenly, something clicked in Arthur's mind and he realised something very important. This wasn't the afterlife. It was the past. Somehow or other, and Arthur would be willing to bet Merlin had something to do with it, instead of dying, Arthur had been sent back in time to the day he'd first met Merlin. He really hoped Merlin had come back too. It could be really awkward if he hadn't. Plus Arthur didn't really want to have to go through that fight in the market square again. That had been embarrassing. And now that he thought about it, Arthur felt sure Merlin had been cheating in that fight by using magic.

Arthur returned to his chambers after the meal on the pretence of doing paperwork; really he just wanted to think in peace. He was going over all his adventures and trying to work out when exactly Merlin had used magic, or things hadn't been quite as they seemed.

Morris brought luncheon to him in his chambers. The other reason Arthur was staying inside was to avoid the execution of the sorcerer that was taking place that morning. He was glad his father hadn't insisted on his attending.

After he'd eaten, Arthur decided he needed to stretch his legs so he set off down to the training grounds. When he got down there, he heard a group of young nobles jeering at a servant. They were making the servant run about holding a target as they threw knives at it. A rush of guilt hit the prince as he remembered that it had been him doing this last time round.

Just then, the servant dropped the target and it went spinning off, eventually dropping to the ground where it was stopped by a familiar booted foot. This time though it was Arthur who spoke up.

"That's enough. What did you think you were doing? Do you realise how dangerous that was? Get out of here and never let me catch you doing that again!" The group of nobles left, grumbling under their breath, and Arthur recalled vaguely that they had been sucking up to him to try and get into knighthood around that time. He definitely wouldn't be making any of those idiots knights.

Arthur walked over to where Merlin was now checking on the other servant.

"Are you alright? They didn't injure you did they?" Arthur questioned the servant who didn't respond.

"I think he's in shock sir," Merlin said. "I'll take him to Gaius." Either Merlin hadn't come back in time so genuinely didn't know who Arthur was or he didn't know Arthur had also come back so was pretending not to know.

"I'll come with you," Arthur suggested. The two young men got the servants arms over their shoulders and between them escorted him to the physician's chambers. Gaius raised an eyebrow when he saw the unlikely group.

Merlin, it transpired, still had chores to do for Gaius so Arthur offered to show him around the castle. Gaius lost his eyebrow in his hair.

"You know, I don't think you told me your name," began Merlin as they walked along the corridor.

"Call me Arthur," replied the owner of that name.

"Arthur. Arthur Pendragon?"

"Got a problem with my name?"

"No. I just thought you'd be more of a prat."

"There's an idiot you can thank for that," replied Arthur with a smile.

"You're from the future too aren't you?" Merlin questioned.

"You're still an idiot Merlin," replied Arthur.

"Well that does make this easier. I don't actually have an errand for Gaius."

"What are we doing then?"

"Saving Lady Helen of Mora."

"We should get going then." Merlin grinned and Arthur found himself grinning back. The two men made their way down to the stables where Arthur ordered two horses be saddled. Once the horses were ready, the warlock and the future king mounted and set off towards the woods.

"How are we going to find them?" Arthur asked Merlin.

"I can look for them using magic," replied Merlin.

"That's handy," commented Arthur. Merlin didn't reply; he was too busy looking with magic.

"This way," he said suddenly, kicking his horse into moving. Arthur raced after him. A sudden stop took Arthur by surprise.

"We should walk from here so they don't hear us coming," Merlin told Arthur. The two young men tied their horses to a tree and walked together through the trees. They came upon an old woman watching a camp guarded by knights. By silent agreement they crept up either side of the old woman.

"We know you're upset," began Merlin.

2But that's no reason to go around killing innocent people," finished Arthur.

"An eye for an eye is wrong and we're not going to let you do this," Merlin told her.

"I have nothing left for me but my revenge," the woman replied.

"That's not true," retorted Arthur.

"We're going to take you to the druids," Merlin informed the woman. "They'll help you." The warlock knew they were close to a druid encampment. The two young men took the woman by an arm each and led her to the druid camp. The druids were very confused when Emrys and the Once and Future King walked into their camp, escorting an angry and upset sorceress but they agreed to look after the woman.

Merlin and Arthur walked back to their horses and rode home to Camelot. They were sat talking in Arthur's chambers when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," called Arthur.

"Arthur, may I speak with you," said Morgana as she looked around the door.

"I'm not alone," Arthur responded, indicating Merlin.

Morgana looked at Merlin then came into the room. Suddenly she was sobbing on Arthur's shoulder, and she held one of Merlin's hands in hers.

"I'm so sorry."


	2. Forgiveness

Arthur looked at the lady weeping on his shoulder. His feelings for this woman were mixed. She once had been like a sister to him before she had become an evil sorceress. Now he supposed she was the kind-hearted stubborn girl he'd always known. Although he was unsure as to why she was crying on his shoulder, holding Merlin's hand and apologising for something.

"What are you sorry for Morgana?" he asked her.

"For betraying Camelot, and for betraying you. Both of you."

"You're from the future too?" Merlin sounded rather confused. Morgana nodded. "Huh, that's odd. I thought I only brought Arthur and I back. I wonder if anyone else is back too?" Merlin spoke more to himself than the other two people in the room so Arthur ignored him and spoke to his sister.

"What changed your mind about betraying us?"

"When I died I met a girl who showed me everything for your perspectives. It made me realise how wrong I'd been. Will you forgive me?"

Arthur was about to respond to her sister when a knock at the door interrupted him.

"Who's there?" he called instead.

"It's Guinevere sire. The lady Morgana's maid. I was wondering if you had seen her."

"I'm here Gwen," called Morgana and the maid opened the door and let herself in. The maid looked around the room at each person in turn then spoke.

"I think I've gone mad."

"You haven't gone mad Gwen," Merlin informed her. "I reversed time so Arthur wouldn't be dead. I apparently brought you and Morgana along for the ride." Gwen turned to glare at Morgana when she realised the lady was also from the future.

"Gwen I am so sorry. I was wrong to betray your friendship, and to betray Camelot." Gwen continued to glare for a moment then rushed over and hugged Morgana.

"I am so glad you're you again," Gwen told Morgana, smiling through her tears. "And I'm very glad you're still my husband," she added turning to Arthur.

"Let's just hope Uther never finds out about that," commented Morgana.

A shudder went through Arthur at the thought of what his father would do if he discovered Arthur's relationship with the young maid. It had nearly happened in the old timeline after all. To take his mind off such thoughts Arthur turned his mind to the upcoming tournament and remembered something.

"Merlin, did you have anything to do with the snakes coming out of that fake knight's shield earlier than he wanted them to?"

"Yes, I learnt an animation spell overnight for that one. This time I think I'll just sneak into the armoury and unenchant the shield before the tournament begins. Valiant wasn't a sorcerer; he bought the shield already enchanted so he won't be able to do anything about it."

This was agreed to be a good plan and Merlin enacted it as soon as he knew Valiant had arrived. Morgana had been hanging around the tournament grounds with Gwen and sent Merlin a telepathic message to alert him to the knight's arrival.

The two girls were rather amused to see Valiant defeated in the tournament, when he was distracted by the lack of snakes coming out of the shield. The knight then revealed his true colours and Uther had him thrown into the dungeons for disrupting the peace. Valiant ended up spending a day in the stocks before leaving Camelot in disgrace.

After the tournament Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen gathered in Arthur's chambers. Morgana had a suggestion for the boys.

"What if we write down everything we remember about the previous timeline? It might help us to plan ahead if we have some idea of what things we want to avoid happening this time round."

Lancelot of very, very confused. He had been dead for quite a long time but now he seemed to be alive again and was in a small town he had only been in once. It had been about a month before he arrived in Camelot for the first time. As the honourable knight sat confused in a tavern, he heard a rumour that a strange beast was attacking. The overheard conversation was incredibly familiar to Lancelot. It took only a few moments to realise what had happened.

_I think I need to speak to Merlin, _thought Lancelot as he prepared to make the journey to Camelot.


	3. Nimueh

Merlin came down the steps into the physician's chambers one morning, about a month after going back in time, to see a body lying on the physician's table. The skin had a strange blue tint to it and the eyes were white. A thrill of horror ran through the warlock as he remembered the afanc and his first meeting with Nimueh.

Throwing a quick greeting to Gaius over his shoulder, Merlin hurried off to Arthur's chambers, detouring via the kitchens to fetch the future king's breakfast. Entering the chambers without knocking, Merlin placed the breakfast on the table and pulled open Arthur's curtains.

"Wake up Arthur. Things to do today."

"What things? What are you talking about Merlin?"

"We have to go kill the afanc."

"Can't you go do it with magic?"

"Last time I was told we both had to go."

"Who told you that?"

"Kilgarrah did." The prince's nose scrunched in confusion.

"Who's Kilgarrah?" Merlin smirked.

"The great Dragon."

"You still have a lot of explaining to do Merlin," realised the prince with a shake of his head.

"yeah probably," agreed Merlin with a grin. "But after we've dealt with the afanc."

"Okay. Okay." Arthur got up, stretched his back and wandered over to his changing screen, where Merlin had hung out clothing for him. Once dressed he came to sit with Merlin at the table. Merlin, having locked the door to the chambers, was using magic to complete his chores. Ordinarily he didn't risk doing his chores that way but today he wanted to get them done quickly.

The two men ate quickly, discussing their plan whilst consuming the mountain of food the cook insisted on sending up to the prince. They debated for a while on whether or not to fetch Morgana and Gwen. Although Morgana had gone with them to defeat the afanc in the original timeline, the young men eventually decided her presence was unnecessary.

When all the food was gone, Arthur grabbed his sword and attached it to his belt. Then the two men made their way to the town's water supply. Both men had lit torches at the ready, since Merlin had explained that they needed wind and fire to destroy the clay creature.

A roar from the end of the corridor alerted the men that the afanc was nearby. As quietly as possible the two men snuck up on it then Arthur waved his torch at the creature whilst Merlin cast a wind spell. The afanc died a fiery death.

"Come on. We ought to go tell the girls that that's over."

"Yeah, Morgana is going to be so mad that we didn't bring her with us."

Nimueh watched with disgust as Arthur Pendragon and a servant entered the tunnels where the town's water supply was kept. How could they know the creature was down there? Yet it seemed as though they did know from the snatches of the two men's conversation that the high priestess could make out.

Nimueh saw the men turn a corner and encounter her afanc. The priestess was surprised to see the prince wave a torch and not his sword in the creature's direction. Was it possible they had some idea of how to defeat the afanc? A gust of wind encased the flames of the Pendragon's torch and sent them over to the afanc. Nimueh splashed the scrying media in her anger, breaking up the picture.

It was only later on that Nimueh realised something rather important. The wind that had come had had to be magical in nature. Which meant that servant had magic. Which meant he needed to die.

It was a few weeks after the afanc had been destroyed and Lord Bayard was arriving in Camelot to sign a peace treaty. Arthur was escorting Morgana down to greet the Lord of Mercia at the castle entrance.

"Didn't Merlin get poisoned last time Bayard came to sign this treaty?" Morgana suddenly asked her brother. Arthur stopped dead. Morgana stumbled at the sudden stop.

"We'll have to make sure that doesn't happen this time around," Arthur declared as the two started walking again.

After the greeting ceremony, Bayard and his men were shown to their guest chambers by some of the castle servants and Arthur lead Morgana, Merlin and Gwen back to his chambers.

"We need a plan to make sure Merlin doesn't get poisoned whilst Bayard is here," Morgana began. Merlin hit his forehead with his hand.

"I can't believe I forgot about Nimueh," the warlock said.

"Nimueh?" chorused the other three.

"She was the High Priestess before Morgause," explained Merlin. "She was the one who sent the afanc and she disguised herself as one of Bayard's servants to poison me for destroying her afanc."

"So she's here now?" confirmed Gwen.

"I would have to assume yes."

"Do you remember what she looked like? We could go and confront her."

"I do, but if we confront her she'll discover our secret. Do we want our enemy to know our secret?"

"Good point Merlin, what shall we do then?"

"What if we could get her to reveal her magic somehow? Then Uther would have her arrested."

"I'm not convinced that would work and she might try to poison Merlin some other way we don't know about, if we stop this plan."

"In which case, we need to make her think she's won when actually she hasn't."

"What if we got the antidote ready before the feast, then when Merlin drinks the poison we give him the antidote straight away," Morgana suggested.

"I'd rather not drink the poison if we can help it," Merlin argued. "That stuff was nasty."

"Right scratch that plan then," stated Arthur. "But it might be worth getting that flower now anyway. Just in case."

"Here's hoping we don't have to use it," Merlin said fervently. "Is the door locked?" Gwen got up and locked it.

"It is now," she stated as she returned to the table.

"Good." Merlin got up and fetched a bowl and a pitcher of water. He poured the water into the bowl then sat down again.

"What are you doing Merlin?" asked Arthur in confusion.

A look of interest had appeared on Morgana's face.

"Are you going to scry for Nimueh?" Merlin flashed Morgana a grin. Arthur jumped as the warlock began spellcasting. For a moment, Merlin's eyes turned gold. When they were blue again, the group turned to look at the bowl of water.

An image had formed on the surface of the water, showing the door of Bayard's guest chambers. Nimueh stood outside the door holding a pile of pillows. As the group watched, Nimueh used magic to open the chamber door and entered. She then took a goblet out of her pile of pillows and swapped it with an identical one on Bayard's desk.

"What if we could find the original goblet and prove someone swapped them?" suggested Morgana.

"If we already have the goblet, won't that seem a bit suspicious to Father?" pointed out Arthur. "He always has been the suspicious type." Merlin shuddered exaggeratedly. Gwen lent her head on her husband's shoulder. Morgana's lips drooped and her eyes seemed suddenly wet.

"It won't happen this time. Not to any of you." Arthur caught the eye of each of his companions and gave them a reassuring smile. He wouldn't ever let his father hurt his family.

They resumed their discussion but couldn't think of an alternative to getting the antidote beforehand.

Deciding there was no time like the present; the four left Arthur's chambers and headed over to the stables. As soon as the four horses were saddled, they mounted and set off for a 'ride through the forest'. It didn't take long for Morgana and Arthur to decide to race. Pendragon's were naturally competitive. Gwen and Merlin exchanged tolerant looks and rode steadily after them.

It took about an hour for the four to reach the caves. Arthur was glad not to meet another cockatrice. Even if he had taken the last one down easily enough.

The group from Camelot entered the cave. Arthur and Gwen carried lit torches, whilst Morgana conjured some bluebell coloured flames that apparently didn't burn her hands. Merlin said something in the old tongue and a ball of light appeared beside him. To Arthur the light was very familiar.

"But… That… What…?" spluttered Arthur. His dam burst. "How the hell? You were dying! That shouldn't be possible!" Arthur broke off, breathing heavily. The others looked at Arthur in confusion.

"What are you talking about Arthur?" questioned Morgana.

"That light. When I was here before it appeared and fought off giant spiders that were trying to kill me, then led me out of the cave," Arthur explained, bringing his emotions back under control. He was a Pendragon and he would not allow his emotions to get the better of him.

The rest of the plant hunting mission was uneventful and they returned to the castle pleased with their success. Morgana, however had had an idea. She knew her friends wouldn't approve so she didn't say anything to them. But Morgana had always been the ruthless one. She assumed it had come from Uther and was strengthened by Morgause. Morgana would do whatever it took to protect her friends.

That night after everyone had gone to bed, Morgana cast a spell to cloak herself in darkness. If Nimueh was a high priestess as Merlin had said, she would not be killed by a blade. In the future that now never was, Morgana had become a high priestess herself. She knew the spell she could use to kill Nimueh.

Nimueh didn't even have time to scream. She didn't even know anyone had entered her room. She only knew she was dead when the Lady of the Lake greeted her and led her to Avalon.

Lancelot smiled as he saw the walls of Camelot in the distance. He hadn't realised how much he missed the citadel, or his friends within it. He really hoped Merlin would have some answers for him.

Lancelot had arrived at the citadel a little earlier than the last time. Whereas before, Lancelot had been tracking and following the Griffin, this time the knight had gone to Camelot directly.

Gwaine remembered dying. He remembered the beautiful woman who had greeted him and led him to Avalon. He remembered her claiming to be Merlin's wife and telling him that Merlin was the sorcerer from the clifftops who had called himself Dragoon the Great. Gwaine remembered feeling indignant at that.

These memories of Gwaine's meant he was now rather confused to be waking up in a ditch in a town he vaguely recognised as somewhere he'd visited years ago. A place he'd only been once, a couple of years before he first met Merlin and Arthur.

Gwaine was also confused a s to why he wasn't wearing his chainmail. _Was it all a dream? _Gwaine decided he needed to go to Camelot right away.


End file.
